Just as in the presidential campaign, Obama has once again outwitted the punditocracy and the opposition. The same crowd that said he was a wimpy hope-monger who could never beat Hillary or get white votes was played for fools again.

Barack Obama just got what he wanted. Almost dollar for dollar. He got the percentage of tax cuts vs. spending that he wanted, almost dollar for dollar. The pundits and the GOP have bet their all on his failure. And then he didn't fail. He didn't fail, he got his way. His support among the people is rock solid, numbers for Democrats are up slightly, support for the stim is still strong, while support for the GOP has actually managed to drop further.

And yet, as Rich points out, the Party Of Stupid thinks it just won a big one:

But the Republicans are busy high-fiving themselves and celebrating “victory.” Even in defeat, they are still echoing the 24/7 cable mantra about the stimulus’s unpopularity. This self-congratulatory mood is summed up by a Wall Street Journal columnist who wrote that “the House Republicans’ zero votes for the Obama presidency’s stimulus ‘package’ is looking like the luckiest thing to happen to the G.O.P.’s political fortunes since Ronald Reagan switched parties.” There hasn’t been this much delusional giddiness in these ranks since Monica Lewinsky promised a surefire Republican sweep in the 1998 midterms.

Here's how this plays out: the odds are heavily in favor of the recession ending at some point in the next couple of years. Even if all we did was sit around playing with ourselves the recession would probably end within Obama's first term of office. Since people tend to credit "something" over "nothing" as a cause of change, Obama will be credited for any turnaround.

The Republicans could have blunted this by helping out. They could have earned credit for an assist. Obama gave them every opportunity. Instead they ensured that they would recieve no credit for a turnaround. But if the economy somehow fails to turn around they'll still take a big share of the blame.

The GOP just bought 0% of success while holding onto at least 50% of failure. Obama is holding 100% of success and at most 50% of failure. Can someone explain to me why this is good for the GOP?

Here's the thing. You're Fred the Carpenter, living in Ohio. You lose your job. Thanks to Obama you get some extended unemployment benefits and although you don't get your job back in 2009, your wife gets a job working on a school remodeling project. And during the worst of it your kids still have health care, and your wife is paying less in payroll tax. Thanks to Obama. So you . . . vote for Republican Senator Voinovich who opposed the creation of the job your wife just got?

Well, I'll tell you how: The Stupidifier. That's how. Obama has used his mutant super-powers to make them stupid. (Well, stupider.)

Still don't believe me? Normally intelligent conservative blogger Rick Moran picks through the stimulus bill and comes up with a long list of spending he finds suspect. Very impressive list. Long list. It amounts to 1.5% of the cost of the bill.

Summoning all his outrage, Moran points to . . . 1.5% of the bill. Moran calls this. " . . .the greatest betrayal of the public trust in my lifetime."

1.5%. One point five percent. Skim outrage.

The Greatest Public Betrayal In My Lifetime.

Say what? Moran is my age. Which means he's lived through Vietnam, Watergate, Desert One, Beirut, Iran/Contra, the Blue Dress, Gitmo/Abu Graib and Katrina, but the 1.5% in this bill is the big one?

Stupid. But it's not Moran's fault, not the GOP's fault. They are mere mortals up against a man with superpowers.

Some superheros have super strength, some have cool gadgets, some can have super speed or power over the elements. But I'm kind of liking this stupidifying thing. I think it could be very useful.

This entry was posted by Michael Reynolds, on
Saturday, February 14, 2009.
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